Adolescent angst – Page 2 – Lights In The Sky

Blog entry eleven: Home

By C Stevens | 13th July 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

This blog entry accompanies Home, the third and final part of an extended story that closes the first half of A Children’s Crusade, and should be read after reading the chapter…
Again, we’re in adventure story territory, and the conclusion of the Children’s exploits in the Equatorial regions also brings the first part of the tale to a close…
So where do we find ourselves?
At the end of per ardua, the Children’s immediate difficulties have apparently been resolved… Everyone’s safe, everyone’s now paired-up (with the exception of the childlike Raj!), and two new children (the first of the second generation!) have been born… They’ve made significant progress in understanding their world and are beginning to comprehend (albeit dimly!) the true nature of A5’s indigenous life…
Problems still remain, however! The Equatorial regions have been declared too dangerous for further exploration, and food supply is still an issue…
On a psychological level two significant things have happened; the Children have gone from the womb-like environment of the Dome out into the world, confronting it as adults for first time; secondly, Marta at least, now regards the planet (rather than just the Dome) as hers for the first time. This is the significance of the chapter’s title!
It would too much of a stretch to say that all of her teammates are on the same page with this, but at least some of them will begin to move in the same direction…
Jorja will not be among them, however! Her recent travails have scarred her mentally, and she now regards Alpha 5 as a hostile place, one that threatens her and the boy she loves! And the threats aren’t just coming from outside the Dome…!
The last paragraphs are instructive. It’s here that Marta’s conclusion that Alpha 5 really is home is revealed. It’s also here that one of the major themes of the series is first alluded to, the drama of climate change made actual. Finally, there’s a major revelation right at the end of the chapter…

Blog entry ten: the Age of Exploration

By C Stevens | 30th June 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

As before, this blog entry accompanies chapter ten of A Children’s Crusade and should be read in conjunction with it…
The title The Age of Exploration is alluded to in the previous chapter and is intended to suggest that this is the novel as adventure story. Following American television convention we’re into the second part of a three part story; for this reason the narrative is rather heavy on exposition.
The slightly archaic speech patterns of the children are a deliberate echo of the classic children’s adventure stories that the first part of Lights in the sky pastiches (a sort of ‘Five go Mad in Space’!). But there is a reason for why they speak this way, (to be revealed in chapter twelve), and the formality of their use of Standard English is counterbalanced by the extreme informality of their use of the slang argot, Grok!
(NB the website boasts a complete glossary of all the unfamiliar Mission and Grok words used in the novel)
Following the convention set in the previous chapter, the passages in italics indicate action seen from Jorja’s POV; although again I’m using third person limited narration rather than first person (that will come later!). In this chapter Jorja begins to realise the serious of their situation; as Marta comments,
‘…they’ve really got themselves in a fix!’
By the start of the chapter Rai has apparently regained his equilibrium and has made an important discovery, while Jorja has concluded that the whole adventure is a terrible idea; the discovery of the sleeping pseudo-crustacean in the pod grove only adds to her conviction. This puts her at odds with her best friend.
It’s not clear from the format of the website, but A Children’s Crusade is divided into two parts (note to self, must fix this!). The subtitle of chapters one to eleven is the first half of a commonplace Latin tag, per ardua, and I think you’ may be able to guess what part two is called! I’d like to point out that this is not a reference to the Royal Air Force, and in fact I got the idea from a short story by Isaac Asimov…
In this chapter the children’s difficulties do become a bit overwhelming, and Marta expresses their growing apprehension when she says,
‘…I’m not sure I like the Equatorial regions…’
Essentially the kids are now completely out of their comfort zone as they are forced to take on adult roles and face their first real crisis as an expedition. Marta, in particular, is tested and and steps up to the plate showing true courage, initiative and resolution, but then we always knew she would…
Hope you enjoy the chapter, until next time…

Blog entry nine: If six were nine

By C Stevens | 14th June 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

This post accompanies chapter nine of A Children’s Crusade and should be read in conjunction with it. The title is a fairly obvious musical reference, although I changed the grammar to fit the context; the fact that it’s the ninth chapter was just coincidence, but the action does represent a series of plot reversals (from six to nine is not just an expansion, but also an inversion), although not all of these are immediately obvious. What is obvious is that Marta’s role as Mission rebel has been decisively usurped by her arch enemies, Rai and Jorja, who go much further than she would have ever dared at this stage in her personal journey!
The focus of the story shifts; we are not seeing entirely from our heroine’s POV, and this is reflected by a change in the narrative style. In previous chapters my normal practice has been to use a privileged third person, telling the story as if we’re looking over the protagonist Marta Fernandes’ shoulder. We shift briefly to Jorge’s POV in Fear of flying, but in If six were nine, longer passages are seen from Jorja’s perspective, and the use of italics delineates this…
This can be regarded as foreshadowing, letting us know that Marta Fernandes is no longer going to be the centre of everything; and from a psychological point of view this represents a development in her thinking, the point in a child’s life when she realizes that the world doesn’t entirely revolve around her!
We learn more about the topography of Alpha 5; we now know it has an active volcano, and vast plains beyond the Barrier range which even have lakes. We also get a glimpse of the Polar Barrier where the northern ice sheets begin. The children begin to take possession of their world by naming bits of it!
We learn that Jorja’s loathing of Marta is profound and this is one of the reasons she agrees to Rai’s plan; and the social politics of the expanded group come into sharper focus!
We also learn a lot more about Alphane ecology and its implications for life on the planet. Marta gets to show her leadership qualities once more, but another potential rival emerges in Sal…!
But above all else this is a great adventure! The crew are pioneers, but pioneers who are still children, with all that entails. So on one level it’s a SF Swallows and Amazons at this point in the chronology, but children grow up…
Re-reading the chapter while preparing this post, I realised how much changes in this episode of the story, and how pivotal it actually is. So in a sense the world is turned upside down as six becomes nine…

Fear of flying

By C Stevens | 13th May 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Apologies for the delay in posting this month, other things just got in the way! This post is designed to accompany chapter seven of our story, Fear of flying, and should be read in conjunction with it…
As a sidebar it’s worth reminding you that I’m currently working on chapter eighteen of the third novel in the trilogy, the Lost Colony, and it feels odd to be writing about a chapter I wrote nearly two years ago; sort of like being in two different time frames, simultaneously!
Anyway, enough of my issues. Fear of flying introduces the notion of different points of view (from now on referred to POV), and we get to explore, via this device, our new character’s sensory world. My intention was to use this device to make the experience of Alpha 5 more concrete….The chapter is very much a ‘touchy-feely’ one, where we explore things through the contrasting perceptions of two of the main characters… This is directly contrasted in the first section where we experience the same events first from Jorge’s POV, and then from Marta’s.
Marta finds that the path to true love doesn’t always run smoothly, as things she can’t control have a habit of getting in the way. Her rivalry with her fellow Brazilian, Jorja, also reaches a new pitch.
The theme here is the gaining of knowledge, and its consequences. My apologies to Erica Jong for purloining her title, but the metaphor is pertinent, if obvious. We learn more about the characters, and what it’s like to be a child growing up in these circumstances, experiencing the doubt, uncertainty, fear, and sheer embarrassment of going through puberty…but with the added burdens of enduring constant surveillance and having to take on adult responsibilities at a very tender age. These kids have it tough!
‘til next time…

The Others

By C Stevens | 16th April 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

As the title suggests, the Others adds new characters to the story, and follows up on the revelations contained in the second chapter, revealing more hidden aspects of the Mission and our little settlement.
I think I decided fairly early on that six characters would not be enough to carry the story, and since Marta and Han were clearly not compatible, more potential mates were needed, especially if the Mission was to succeed in the secondary aim of founding a colony.
There was a long hiatus between the writing of the first chapter (originally conceived as as a stand-alone short story, entitled Light-out, and submitted to Analog Science Fiction & Fact in the autumn of 2013), and the decision to make it the basis of a novel. Needless to say the short story was rejected, and a cursory reading of the content of the magazine would probably have dissuaded me from submitting it in the first place. However, the feedback I received, although contained in a standard rejection letter, made a number of useful suggestions, including ensuring that the science used in the story was both plausible and accurate.
By the time I received the letter, I’d given up on the idea of a sequel to my first novel, a mainstream effort written under a different pen name, and decided that my next book would be a science fiction novel based on the characters, the scenario, and the concepts outlined in Light-out…
I wish I could say that I conceived the idea of a trilogy at this point, but the truth is I don’t remember. But when I revisited the short story and revised it to make more credible scientifically, I became increasingly convinced that I had something! Convinced, in fact, that I had created a world and characters with mileage in them, that I wanted to find out more about, and hopefully one that others would too…!
It may occur to you that, in certain aspects, a Children’s Crusade reads like a detective story, and this is very much how I view it! Alpha 5 is the problem, the mystery that needs to be solved, and I’m the detective; and the answers we discover along the way are the discoveries that I’ve made in the process of writing the series…
For fiction to work, it has to have a life of its own, dictated by the characters and the scenario. From dialogue comes character, and from character flow plot and action…
So in a sense the series writes itself, and in accepting that to be true, I’m consider myself privileged that this particular story has chosen me to be its medium…

The Lessons of History

By C Stevens | 14th March 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Hi,

I am about to post chapter four of A Children’s Crusade on to the site. Apologies for late posting this month, my plan remains to post a new chapter roughly every two weeks, and as there are twenty two in this book, you should have the whole thing by the end of 2016.

The chapter is called ‘History Lesson’, after the central conceit, which takes a lesson given to the Children about Earth’s recent history (from our standpoint, future history), and uses it as a metaphor for life lessons learned (specifically by Marta), during the action. We also learn something more about the dominant indigenous species, as our heroine, following up on her suspicion that the pseudo-crustaceans are smarter than they look, decides to conduct behavioural research on one of them!

My speculations on a possible future history of the United States act as a way into the action. Despite any appearance to the contrary, I’m not in any way anti-American. I’m a fairly frequent visitor, and a great admirer of the American Constitution and the ideals it embodies. Readers should see the political aspects of this chapter as an outsider’s contribution to (and comment upon), the ongoing cultural debate within America.

As a sidebar to this, I’d also like to point out that I’m also an admirer of another great American institution, the US National Park Service, which I volunteered for during the summer of 2013.

Happy Reading

the story so far…

By C Stevens | 17th February 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

The story so far

I’ve just posted posted Out, the next chapter in book one of the Lights in the sky series. Chapter one, the Light, introduced the six children and their mentor, Nurse Gee, parachuting us into the action at a critical moment. The crisis brought about by the astronomical and climatic phenomenon, the children call ‘Light-out’, forces Marta to grow up and take adult responsibility for the first time, while laying bare some of the tensions that lie beneath the surface of her little community.

In Behind the door, we found out more about the hidden agendas that lie beneath the facade of the Alpha Mission. Marta pokes her nose in where she really shouldn’t (as ever), and in consequence achieves a conceptual breakthrough that changes the lives of all of them.

Whereas chapter two explored the inner workings of the place where the children live, Out, as the name indicates, explores the alien world that lies beyond the Dome, and we begin to discover something about the indigenous lifeforms of Alpha 5.

We’ll learn much more about them in later chapters…

Ta ta for now…

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